Smoothies have become increasingly popular. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,292, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, Michael Milan writes, “Within recent years, there has been another form of beverage that is experiencing a reasonable degree of acceptance by the population. This form of beverage is a fruit juice or fruit drink that is blended with crushed ice. If the fruit drink includes yogurt or ice cream, it is termed a smoothie. A smoothie is non-carbonated and generally contains fruit or a mixture of different fruits that are pulverized to almost a liquid form which is served at a freezing temperature to include ice crystals. At times, a smoothie may also include powdery supplements. For purposes of this invention, the term smoothie is to refer to any non-carbonated fruit or fruit juice beverage that includes ice crystals. The normal method of preparing a smoothie is to place the ingredients within a blender and blend the ingredients for a few seconds which results in the ice being pulverized and evenly dispersed throughout the ingredients. The blended ingredients are then poured into consuming containers, such as a glass or cup, and the contents then consumed by the consumer.” Popular smoothies that consumers can purchase at on-premise retail outlets like Jamba Juice™ or Smoothie King™ have a much desired, paste-like consistency that is smooth, creamy, and thick. These retailers make their smoothies at the time of order using a blender. Consumers must consume the smoothie quickly, before the ice crystals melt, or the smoothie will cease to have a paste-like consistency that is smooth, creamy, and thick. Instead, the drink will become watery because the ice crystals will have melted. If the consumer does not finish the smoothie and wants to drink the rest later, or if they purchase a smoothie and simply want to drink it at a later date or time, they will not be able to duplicate the much desired, paste-like consistency that is smooth, creamy, and thick. If the consumer freezes the smoothie, hoping to stop the ice crystals from melting, the smoothie must be thawed in order to drink it. When it thaws, either at room temperature or by using a heat source or microwave oven, the ice crystals will quickly melt and the drink will have a watery consistency instead of the desired paste-like and smooth, creamy and thick consistency.
Smoothies with such a paste-like, smooth, creamy, and thick consistency can also be made at home. A blender must be used to achieve this desired consistency. However, blenders are not ubiquitous, and they are difficult and time consuming to clean. Additionally, it is time consuming to make a smoothie at home; it takes several minutes to measure, combine and blend the ingredients. Further, unless a consumer has all of the necessary ingredients and unless a recipe is followed exactly each time, it is difficult to get both the taste and the paste-like, smooth, creamy and thick consistency right every time a smoothie is made at home. For these reasons, smoothies are not made at home as often as they could be. Additionally, similar to smoothies purchased at on-premise retail stores, smoothies made at home and stored in the freezer will lose their paste-like, smooth, creamy and thick consistency when thawed.
There is a need for a smoothie with a paste-like, smooth, creamy and thick consistency that can be stored in a freezer and consumed whenever desired. Additionally, there is a need for a smoothie with a paste-like, smooth, creamy and thick consistency made at home that does not need to be blended in a home blender by a consumer. Additionally, there is a need for a smoothie that can easily be made at home with the desired taste and desired consistency each time the smoothie is made. Additionally, there is a need for a smoothie that can be made at home with all of the necessary ingredients in one package. Finally, there is a need for a smoothie that can be made at home quickly. Additionally, there is a need for a smoothie that a consumer can purchase in the frozen section of a grocery store, and with minimal effort, prepare the smoothie to taste similar and have the same consistency as a smoothie purchased at an on-premise smoothie retail outlet. However, smoothies with these attributes are unknown in the art.